Where the name Nakayama comes from, what stood here before the station, and what you can still spot on a walk today. Then the events near the station that we have checked on the official pages.
The name Nakayama, literally Middle Mountain, is traditionally explained by a hill that stood near the center of the old village. Yokohama City's place-name records identify the area as the former Nakayama Village in Tsuzuki District. In 1889, it was incorporated into the larger Niiharu Village. The landscape still offers clues to the name: the station stands on low ground near the Onda River, while wooded hills rise to the south.
Leave Nakayama Station by the north exit and walk toward the Onda River. Rice fields once spread across this flat valley, using water from the river and streams flowing down from the surrounding hills. Return to the south exit and walk toward Terayama. The ground gradually rises toward the hills of Shikinomori Park, where wooded slopes and wet valleys preserve a landscape very different from the commercial streets around the station.
Nakayama Station opened in 1908 with the Yokohama Railway. The tracks followed the lower ground, and shops gradually developed around the station. The name Nakayama preserves the memory of a village whose farms occupied the river valley beneath its wooded hills.
→ Walk north from Nakayama Station toward the Onda River to see the flat valley floor. Then return south and head toward Shikinomori Park, where wetlands and wooded hills survive. The contrast between river lowland and hillside helps explain the traditional origin of Nakayama's name.
Sources (in Japanese): 横浜市緑区「地名の由来・中部エリア」, 横浜市緑区「緑区の成り立ちと現在の様子」
As recently as the 1960s, rice fields surrounded parts of Nakayama Station. Yokohama City's historical photo archive includes photographs taken around 1966 with a title meaning The Station Was Surrounded by Rice Fields. The landscape was shaped by the Onda River to the north and wooded hills to the south. Flat, well-watered land supported rice cultivation, while fields and settlements occupied the nearby slopes.
Nakayama Station opened in 1908 on the Yokohama Railway. Shops gradually appeared outside its south exit, serving people from the surrounding farming villages. Walk south toward Terayama and Daimura, and the ground begins to rise. The railway station connected the agricultural valley with communities living on the higher ground. Over time, it also became the center of a growing residential district.
Urban development accelerated after World War II. Land readjustment in the northern station district was completed in 1983, creating a more regular street pattern. The Yokohama Municipal Subway Green Line opened in 2008, strengthening Nakayama's role as a transport hub. Today, the station connects shops, public offices, and residential neighborhoods, but the nearby river and hills still reveal the farming landscape from which the town developed.
→ Compare the planned streets north of Nakayama Station with the older shopping streets on the south side. Walk north toward the flat Onda River valley, then south toward the rising hills. The changing terrain explains the neighborhood's transformation from farmland to a busy transport center.
Sources (in Japanese): 横浜市緑区「駅・鉄道の写真・中山駅」, 横浜市「中山駅周辺地区」
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We list events we could confirm on the official page or official Instagram of the venue or organiser. Details can change, tickets sell out and venues close, so check the official page before you go. Distances are straight-line and travel times are rough estimates. Photos show the venue or its surroundings, not the event itself. Titles and descriptions are our own translations from Japanese. This site contains affiliate links (ads).